There are players who participated in spring practice, and there are players who were on the roster this spring but did not participate because of injury. Then there are three types of newcomers: freshmen, junior-college transfers and graduate transfers.

Uniting those five groups into a cohesive unit is the biggest task for the Vols before preseason camp opens Aug. 3, Pruitt said.

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Tennessee Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt addresses the media during SEC football media day at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Ga on Wednesday, July 18, 2018.
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Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt walks on the field during the first Vol football practice of the spring season at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tuesday, March 20, 2018.
Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt introduces the football staff and the year's new signees during a Signing Day celebration at the Tennessee Theatre on Wednesday, February 7, 2018.
Saul Young/News Sentinel

Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt speaks to reporters during media day for the national championship game on Saturday in Atlanta. Pruitt was hired as Tennessee's coach on Dec. 7 but is finishing his duties with Alabama.
Blake Toppmeyer/News Sentinel

University of Tennessee Athletic Director Phillip Fulmer, left, introduces Jeremy Pruitt during his introduction ceremony as Tennessee's next head football coach at the Neyland Stadium Peyton Manning Locker Room in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday, December 7, 2017.
Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

“A lot of the guys, when you sit in a room, they don’t know each other,” Pruitt said last week during an appearance on the “Erik Ainge Show” on WNML. “We’ve got to get to know each other. We’ve got to be able to call upon each other. We’ve got to believe in each other. It’s going to be important that we create a team, a oneness. I feel like if we can do that, that will help us tremendously this fall.”

Asked what the biggest question his team must answer this summer is, Pruitt quipped that the Vols face a lot of questions and “we could sit here and talk about that for a while.”

But then he zeroed in on the idea of team cohesiveness.

“I think that’s going to be important,” Pruitt said. “When you get a group of guys that are kind of pulling in the same direction, you seem to be able to accomplish more. We’ve got to figure out the guys that have athletic ability and they have influence on their teammates and try to create some leadership within our team.”

The Vols said goodbye to leaders like Kendal Vickers, Ethan Wolf and Brett Kendrick off last year’s team.